In Newark, an anti-violence rally takes over intersection

Monica Boyd who's don Shafe Boyd-Cruz was killed at 15 sits in the street with signs. The group of activists held an anti-violence rally at Broad and Market Streets in Newark, NJ, on Saturday, June 14, 2014.

NEWARK — Naimah Johnson reminisced sadly about the phone calls she no longer receives from her slain brother.

Bashir Akinyele complained about losing yet another student to gun violence. Monica Boyd said she worries her kids will one day forget their brother who was killed nearly a decade ago.

"As time goes on will everybody forget about him?" Boyd asked.

The Newark mourners-turned-activists said they wanted more attention on the gun violence gripping the metro region.

So they shut down a busy intersection.

In fact, close to a hundred like-minded activists gathered around a small white casket in the middle of Broad and Market streets in downtown Newark disrupting traffic for more than two hours today in protest of unnecessary bloodshed.

Among the chants heard, was “Who’s streets? Our streets!” and “Stop the violence! Stop the killing! Stop the shootings!” Some passersby grumbled about have to take alternative walking, driving and bus routes, but some observed in appreciation.

The activists were organized by a group of organizations including the National Action Network (NAN), the Peoples Organization for Progress (POP), Street Corner Resources, and the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition (NAVC).

The rally, planned before the onset of the weekend, proved to be particularly timely for Newark. A 29-year-old Newark man was shot to death late Friday night in the city's central ward.

In 2013, Newark's homicides totaled 111, the most violent 12-month stretch in Newark in nearly a quarter-century.

"It's black young boys and girls being murdered everyday in the streets," said Marques-Aquil Lewis, a Newark school advisory board member and one of the rally's organizers.

The activists criticized a wide range of sources for violence, from an influx of illegal guns and drugs to a lack of personal responsibility. But for most, the loss of loved ones was more acute.

Akinyele, a history teacher at Weequahic High School, said he has lost dozens of students over the course of his near 20-year career as a teacher. The most recent to be slain was Abdul Frazier a.k.a "Scooter,” a 14-year old shot on Christmas Day.

Akinyele said he recently found a class assignment in which Frazier mentioned him as a role model. "I'm gonna honor that brother as long as I'm teaching," he said.

Johnson's brother, Ahmad Rabb, was killed two years ago at the age of 36 while he was stopped in a car at a traffic light, she said.

"It's important to keep coming out because people still getting killed," she said.

Boyd said she still grapples with the 2006 killing of her son, Shafe Boyd Cruz. The hardest part during the early days of her son's death was closing the casket, she said.

"I'm looking at that little coffin and I'm like wow," she said."It brings back memories."

The activists' sentiment was not totally hopeless. Toward the end of the rally the demonstrators prayed and sang, wishing for calmer streets.